


Oh, Mamma

by TheCriminal



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Claudia Stilinski, Alternate Universe - Movie Fusion, Artist Stiles Stilinski, Established Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, F/M, M/M, Mamma Mia - Freeform, Sheriff Stilinski's Name is John
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-31
Updated: 2015-07-31
Packaged: 2018-04-12 04:48:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4466006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCriminal/pseuds/TheCriminal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“So I may have been snooping, and done something completely crazy.”</p><p>Lydia grabs his arm, forcing him to look at them. “What did you do?”</p><p>“I kind of… invited my dad to the wedding?”</p><p>“Stiles! You found him?”</p><p>“Stiles.”</p><p>Erica stares in shock and Lydia’s expression is demanding an explanation before they start walking again.</p><p>“I found Mom’s diary,” he admits, pulling it out from his bag. “And I have three possible fathers.”</p><p>--<br/>Or, the Mamma Mia au that no one asked for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Oh, Mamma

**Author's Note:**

> So... This kind of happened because of the beach prompt for the month over at the stereksupportnetwork on tumblr and I went overboard because I'm the worst and ended up pumping out 10K in under 24 hours WHICH I WILL NEVER BE DOING AGAIN FOR THE SAKE OF MY SANITY. Also sad claudia feelings from epsiode six made me do it. Originally posted to my tumblr [here](http://kilaem.tumblr.com/post/125453772034)

In the dead of the night, the steady thrum of the engine of the boat was a sound that Stiles Sheridan had grown up with whenever he travelled to the mainland. He had never wanted for anything, not really. He had his mother, his friends on the island and in school, his mom’s friends… And now Derek Hale.

He’d never known his father, because it never seemed like he needed one. He didn’t care, he had his mom, who was his whole world.

But he needed to know.

The three envelopes felt heavier in his hand than they were, only containing three invitations to three different people.

 _John Stilinski._ There was no backing out, he had to know.

 _Chris Argent._ All three of them.

 _Deucalion Emery._  Into the mailbox.

Now all Stiles had to do was rely on fate as he took the boat back to Kalokairi. 

* * *

 

It was the day before the wedding and Stiles had been going out of his mind with all the preparation for the last month, rushing about the villa with his mom and Derek and trying to make sure everything (or at least… almost everything) was working and fully functioning.

One of the toilets was still funky but they’d deal with it. They always do.

Today he could rest a little, because the guests were going to be arriving soon. Derek’s family were arriving on their own boat, but Stiles’ two bridesmaids had made him promise to be at the jetty by 8AM.

Stiles smiled to himself as he heard the shouting of his name from the jetty, running and sweeping Erica and Lydia up into hugs.

“I have something to tell you,” he says in a rush when they start walking back, because he has to tell  _someone_ and it’s not like he could have told Derek.

“Well, you can’t be knocked up,” Erica grins and elbows him.

“So I may have been snooping, and done something completely crazy.”

Lydia grabs his arm, forcing him to look at them. “What did you do?”

“I kind of… invited my dad to the wedding?”

“ _Stiles_! You found him?”

“ _Stiles_.”

Erica stares in shock and Lydia’s expression is demanding an explanation before they start walking again.

“I found Mom’s diary,” he admits, pulling it out from his bag. “And I have three possible fathers.”

He tells them about the three, John, and Chris and Deuc, when they met and when they left, trying not to let the guilt eat at him.

He doesn’t know why they all start laughing, all he knows is that he’s  _excited_. He’s getting  _married_! And he’s going to find out who  _his dad_  is.

“Sheridan, what the hell are you humming?”

He turns to Lydia, not even realising he was doing it. “I’ve had ABBA stuck in my head for days, Lydia. Don’t judge me.”

She smiles and rolls her eyes, linking arms casually. “So is Jackson still employed?”

Stiles lets out a snort of laughter and is about to tell her when his next shift is when there’s an excited shout and his mom is hugging them all.

“Goodness, look at you both. Stop growing!” She laughs, smiling at them brightly. “I’m so happy you’re here already, there’s so much to do– Stiles, you need to fit their dresses and–”

“Mom, calm down, I know,” he laughs, taking her hands and stroking her skin gently. She really did stress too much and it was understandable, but once they had more money coming into the villa, it would settle.

Claudia smiles and nods, “Right, I should go check for the ferry.”

“You three are going to have so much fun… I used to have fun,” she says with a smile, like it’s an afterthought. Stiles smiles, remembering her stories from when he was little.

“Oh, we know.” Erica grins, before Lydia elbows her and she realises what she just said.

 _Oh my god_ , Stiles thinks.  _Way to go, Erica._

Claudia turns to look at her in confusion before she shakes her head and keeps walking while Stiles leads them up to his room.

* * *

  

He’s always been able to see the ocean from his window, wake up to the smell of salt water, and the sight always makes him smile.

“So which one did you invite?” Lydia says carefully, and he refocuses on pinning the dress to Erica’s size.

“Um–”

“Jesus, Stiles, you invited all three of them, didn’t you?” Erica asks, looking bewildered. “How do you even know they’ll come?”

“Because I made it look like Mom invited them… I know, okay? I know it’s bad, but after what’s in that diary, it’s no wonder they said yes. When I see them, I’ll know who it is. I can feel it.”

“Better be a wide aisle,” Erica murmurs, and Stiles sticks her with a pin. “ _Ow_.”

Stiles smiles innocently at her when his bedroom door opens and Derek walks in wearing board shorts and a tight white shirt, and Stiles feels his breath catch as it always does. Derek wraps Erica and Lydia into hugs and Stiles tries not to smile as much as he wants to when he sees Derek grin and whisper to them, “I’m getting married tomorrow.”

Derek pulls back and nods his head when he sees them wearing the dresses.

“You both look beautiful,” he says as he walks up to Stiles and slides his fingers under his shirt, softly touching the skin of his hips.

“If it was up to you we’d be in the courthouse on the mainland.”

“You make me sound so unromantic,” he laughs, pressing a kiss to Stiles’ neck before moving away.

“What are you doing in here anyway?”

“Props. For the stag night,” he says, picking up a few of the masks in Stiles’ box of stuff.

Stiles is sure he’s making a face, because Derek comes back over to him and strokes his cheek, leaning forward and kissing him softly. “I’ll see you later.”

As soon as Derek is gone, he can feel Lydia’s eyes on him. “He doesn’t know, does he?”

“He would have made me tell my mom.” 

* * *

  

Claudia loved her life. She did.  _Does_. She loves her life. She has the most incredible son, but she could help but be nervous about his wedding.

He was so  _young_.

The dirt road was smooth under the Jeep as she drove down to the beach, passing some of the staff who had been getting things for the wedding from the mainland. Claudia didn’t even try to keep the smile off her face when she saw the last three passengers coming off the ferry. Climbing out of the car, she jogged to the start of the jetty. She hadn’t seen them in so long.

“Look at what the tide dragged in!” She shouts, causing all three of them to turn and look.  

Natalie and Melissa shout and laugh with her as they run up to each other. “Where the hell did you get these boobs from?!”

“Husband number three,” Melissa says, knocking Natalie with her elbow.

Natalie lifts her head proudly and moves her sunglasses up to the top of her head and smoothing her hands down her dress. “Well the settlement had to go somewhere. And what are you  _wearing_ , you look like you’re a hippie again.”

“It’s practical,” Claudia says, sweeping her hands down her overalls. “I’d pay money to see you fix a toilet in a dress.”

They start laughing again while Scott watches them with a smile on his face.

“Is that my little Scotty?” Claudia asks with raised eyebrows. “I could have sworn you were shorter than that.”

“Hi Aunty Claudia,” he grins, hugging her tightly.

“Stiles is going to be so happy you’re here, he was so disappointed when you said you couldn’t get time off.”

“I pulled a few strings,” Scott says and shrugs.

Claudia smiles and takes one of the bags from him, putting it in the back of the Jeep.

“You still have this old piece of tin?” Natalie asks, eyeing it wearily.

“Hey, don’t you insult my Jeep! Derek showed me how to fix it if something ever happens again.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any safer.”

“Get in the damn truck, Natalie.”

They climb into the jeep, and Claudia turns the radio down, having not seen her friend in too many years. Even Scott has changed so much, and the last time she saw him was when he and Melissa came to visit four years ago.

“So how many people are actually coming?”

“Oh, here we go.” Melissa says with bright eyes when Claudia checks the review mirror.

“Any Greeks of substantial–”

“Husband number four?” Melissa teases.

Natalie holds her hand over her chest like she’s offended, but the smile is huge. “Not for me. For Melissa!”

Scott makes a choking sound and Melissa shoots a glare at Natalie. “No way. I am much happier single. The only man I need in my life is Scott, isn’t that right?”

“Thanks Mom,” Scott deadpans.

“Couple of role models for you three kids, right Scott?” Claudia grins, changing gears as they go up the hill. “The divorced single mother, the unplanned pregnancy, and the serial bride.”

Scott starts laughing, and soon Claudia shifts into park when they reach the villa.

Claudia starts pulling the bags from the back of the car when Derek comes over, lifting the heavier one for her. “Thanks, dear.”

“And who is this?” Natalie asks, looking between them.

“ _This_  is Derek. Main man at tomorrow’s thing, right?”

Derek lets out a small huff of laughter, shaking his head. “Yeah, because tomorrow is just a thing, isn’t it?”

“Not like it’s your wedding, not at all,” Claudia says with a smile. “Derek, these are my backup girls, and Melissa’s son Scott.”

“ _Backup girls–_ ”

“Excuse me–”

“Nice to meet you,” Derek says, shaking their hands. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

“All good I hope,” Melissa smiles, when there’s an excited shout from the courtyard.

Claudia watches her son almost tackle Scott into a hug, feeling her chest go warm at Stiles’ happiness as he talks excitedly with his friend.

She knows he hasn’t had the best life possible, but they’ve managed. Seeing him smile just seemed to make everything worth it.

“Aunty Melissa! Aunty Natalie!” Stiles says as he hugs them both, smiling at their comments about how much he’s grown and how handsome he is.

Lydia’s yell of excitement is a precursor to her almost tackling Scott into a hug as well, and Claudia knows that everything about today and tomorrow is going to be perfect for them. 

* * *

 

 Stiles is helping move the bags to their rooms as his mom talks with her friends, when she sighs. “He’s got his whole life ahead of him.”

“Jesus, Mom,” he laughs, “I’m getting married, not joining a convent!”

“He’s more like you every time I see him,” Melissa says.

“If he were more like me then he wouldn’t be getting married at twenty,” his mom says quietly, but he still hears her.

It stings and he knows she would have done so many other things if she hadn’t gotten pregnant with him. She was always hesitant about him getting married, even though she adored Derek.

He knew she was scared of them leaving her alone, but he would never do that. They were going to be staying and helping her improve the villa and get more customers through the website they were slowly putting together in their spare time.

“Derek, tell them about the thing you two are going to put on the line–”

“ _Online_ , Mom! Not on the line!” Stiles calls as he drops the bags off in their room, and when he comes back out he sees Derek coming out from Scott’s room.

“I’m going to go get my family from the docks, okay?” Derek says as he passes him, pressing a kiss to Stiles’ cheek.

“Tell them I’ll see them later,” Stiles says, catching Derek’s hand and pulling him back for another kiss.

“I will.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Stiles smiles and lets him go, sighing when he sees that half of the washing is still up.

He hears the sound of a power tool before his mom and aunts burst into laughter through the open window before they come downstairs, when the ground starts to move.

There’s a brief moment of panic before it calms, and his mom calls for him from the courtyard.

“Mom?”

“Do you know where we put the caulk gun?”

“In the tool box I think? Why, what happened?”

“There’s a crack in the courtyard,” she sighs.

“Shit.”

She runs a hand through her hair and sighs again, nodding to herself. “Alright, I’ll go find it. You make sure that washing is all put away.”

He smiles to himself and piles all the sheets into the basket, dropping them off in the wash room before he starts to head back out.

Stiles isn’t nervous about Derek’s family, he’s met them all countless times before and loved them. He’s just nervous about the possibility of–

Three men are standing with bags at the front of the villa, and Stiles smiles politely. “Hi, can I help you?”

“Christopher Argent,” one of them smiles and holds out his hand to shake.

Oh no.

“Deucalion Emery,” another says in a British accent.

Oh, Stiles is so screwed.

The last one takes off his aviators and smiles. “I’m John Stilinski. We’re here about a wedding? Claudia Sheridan is expecting us.”

Okay, holy crap.

“Right!” Stiles nods, speechless for words. He was wrong, he was so, so wrong about knowing who his dad would be when he saw him. “Right, yes. The wedding.  _Tomorrow_.”

“You’re not… Are you Claudia’s son?” Stilinski asks, eyes flicking over his face.

“Yeah, I’m Stiles. Stiles Sheridan, that’s me.”

“You look like her a lot,” he smiles gently.

“Stiles?” Chris asks. “That’s an interesting name.”

“It’s a nickname,” he says. “Przemysław is my actual name.”

“Her father’s name?” Stilinski asks.

Stiles nods, trying not to let his panic show. “Let me, uh… Let me show you your room.”

It’s not like he can actually give them one of the rooms in the villa, his mom would find out and freak out and he can’t let her–

The old goat house. It’s been empty for  _years_ , and she would never suspect a thing.

He leads them through the back and into the old shed, trying to keep himself calm. It’ll be easy. He’ll just… He’ll figure it out. He’ll talk to each of them, use his brain, and it’ll all work itself out.

The goat house has barrels and hay on the ground floor, but that wouldn’t be good anyway. Stiles points at the hatch and tries to seem excited. “Up you go.”

He follows them up and tries not to cringe at the drawings on the board covering the window, or at the lumpy mattress already in the middle of the room. He grabs the two air mattresses that he knows are stored up here and puts them into the nearest person’s hands, who just so happens to be Stilinski.

“Can we see her now?” Deucalion asks politely. Or maybe it’s just the accent.  _God_ , what if his dad is British?

“ _No_ – I mean. Uh. Not yet.”

“And why not?”

“Mom… Shit, okay, look, she didn’t send the invites. I did. She doesn’t know.”

The reaction is immediate, three groans from the men, and Stilinski looks down at his feet. “Oh no, I can’t be here–”

“Why not?” Stiles interrupts.

“The last time I saw your mother, she told me she never wanted to see me again–”

“But that was years ago! I thought… It might be nice to surprise her,” he lies.

God, what a lie, he’s going to be in so much shit if his mom finds out.

“Well if your mother doesn’t know, might we be shown to our rooms now?”

Stiles opens his mouth, but Argent laughs and shakes his head. “This is our room.”

“But–”

“It’s an adventure, Deuc. You were saying on the boat you wanted to live a little. This is your chance.”

“Look, you all said eyes for some reason. You all came back, right? Like it was… A siren call, maybe–”

Stilinski laughs and shakes his head. “You are just like your mother.”

“I’m glad you’ve never met my daughter, you two would get on like a house on fire,” Chris says.

“You have a daughter?” Stiles asks.

“Yeah, she’s studying in France at the moment,” he says proudly, and Stiles smiles. “I named her after one of my great aunts who used to live over on the mainland after she moved from France.”

He could have a sister.

There’s a noise like humming before it gets louder and Stiles’ face falls when he hears his mom quietly singing. All three of the potential dads pause before their eyes go wide, and Stiles steps over the hatch so they can’t leave.

“No, no, no, no,  _no_ … She can’t know okay, don’t tell  _any_ one? Please? It will be our little surprise?” He rushes quietly, pleading them.

They look guilty before the all agree, and Claudia’s voice gets louder and Stiles pulls the board away from the window, giving it to the nearest person before he goes to climb out the window. “Thank you,” he whispers, before the board is back on the window.

Stiles drops to the ground.

* * *

  

Claudia pauses when she hears a slamming sort of noise from the old goat house, and she goes to investigate. The wall is easy to climb, but when she opens the window shutters, she’s faced with old posters of her band with Melissa and Natalie.  _Claudia and the Cyclones._

She can hear people quietly talking in the room, so she drops down and goes to the ladder inside, pushing the hatch to the second floor up very carefully before she peers through the gap.

It’s like a daydream turned nightmare in front of her eyes, seeing Deucalion, Chris and John standing around and having a casual conversation as one of them blows up one of the air mattresses.

John Stilinski, who broke her heart.

Chris Argent, who parted amicably.

Deucalion Emery, who never got to say goodbye.

Claudia feels like her heart is beating out of her chest as she climbs down the ladder, needing the space to think. The roof seems like the more sensible choice so she climbs and then she paces, thoughts running wild. 

* * *

 

 Stiles tells Lydia and Erica  _immediately_ , trying to stop himself from freaking out as they head back to the shed.  

“Let’s just… Find Claudia, and distract her,” Erica suggests, looking hesitantly between the two of them.

“Keep her away from the old goat house, good idea,” Lydia agrees, nodding quickly.

“Too late,” Erica breathes, staring up.

Stiles looks up and swears when he sees his mom pacing on the roof, and then it’s like his soul is leaving his body as she falls. He’s so dead. 

* * *

 

_What were they doing here?_

_Why were they here_ now  _of all times, together?_

 _He was getting_ married _tomorrow–_

_Stiles can never find out that they were here–_

_Stiles._

As she steps, the old weathered hatch on the roof gives out under her and she falls into the room, landing on the mattress.

They stare at her with matching incredulous expressions, and she flails as she tries to stand, straightening her clothes and flicking her hair out of her face, trying to ignore the smiles on their faces.

“Deuc– Chris, John, what are you all… What are you all doing here? Together?”

She holds her breath,  _god_ , they can’t know,  _they can’t know_  about Stiles–

“I’m writing a travel piece,” Chris says.

“Spontaneous holiday,” Deuc gets out with a nod.

“I just wanted to see the island,” John says, meeting her eyes. It still hurts, even when she’d thought she’d gotten over it. “You know how much it meant to me.”

Claudia clenches her jaw, looking between them. “How do you know each other?”

“This is just one of those moments where three completely random people get together in a strange turn of events,” Chris shrugs. “It’s happened to me before.”

“So none of you know each other?”

“No, it was all spontaneous,” Deuc nods.

“Spontaneous,” Chris reiterates.

“How did you all get in my old goat house?”

“Some Greek boy said we could stay in here. In Greek,” Chris shrugs, looking around.

“Didn’t catch the name,” John adds.

“Well, you can’t stay here,” Claudia says in a hurry. She needs them  _out_  and  _gone_  before Stiles finds out–

“Or maybe he said we couldn’t stay here,” John says, nodding quickly. “In Greek.”

Claudia rolls her eyes and opens the hatch, thinking quickly. “I’m going to arrange for a boat to take you back to the mainland, I have too many things to deal with, my– local boy is getting married.”

“I have a boat,” Chris says helpfully, as if to save her the trouble.

“You have a boat?  _Good_ , get on it and… Anchors away.  _Away_  away.”

She climbs down the ladder and half jogs, half walks away, desperate to find Natalie and Melissa. Claudia can feel tears starting to fall already, she didn’t  _need_  this, she just wanted Stiles to have a good wedding, and now they were  _here_  and she didn’t know what to do–

“Claudia? What’s wrong?” Jackson asks at the bar, handing a drink over to Natalie.

They turn to look and she needs privacy, she just needs to cry and sob and the bathroom is right there, and she can hear Melissa and Natalie calling after her and asking what’s wrong, but she  _can’t_ –

She comes out and closes the door to the bathroom, letting her tears fall freely as she tries to explain.

“It’s– it’s his dad, it’s Stiles’ dad–”

“Who, John Stilinski? What about him?” Melissa asks, taking a tissue off of Natalie.

“I, I  _thought_  it was, but now I don’t know and–”

“Wait, how can you not know?” Natalie asks, passing her the drink.

Claudia drinks it because she figures if there’s an excuse for drinking before 2pm, this is it.

“There were… There were two others around the same time,” she tries to laugh, but it falls flat on a sob. “Chris Argent and Deucalion Emery.”

“Oh my god.”

“They,” she sniffs, wiping at her nose, “all three of them were in my old goat house.”

“The old goat house?” They say together, and Claudia only has a second to feel dread before she chases after them.

When they get there, there’s no one up on the second floor, and all the stuff is cleared out, but she  _knows_  she didn’t imagine it.

“Are you sure?” Natalie asks.

“Do you really think I’d forget my son’s dads?”

They walk back to the house, but now that they’re gone there’s less of a weight on her chest. Stiles won’t ever have to find out and they still have the chance for Stiles to have the wedding he deserves.

Claudia flops down in front of her mirror, staring at her red eyes and how shaken she looks.

“Why don’t you just tell him? He might be cool with it?” Natalie asks gently, looking at the pictures of Claudia and Stiles on her chest of draws.

“Cool with it?” She laughs. “This is Stiles, this is my  _son_ , there’s no way he would ever be  _cool_  with it. It’d be like a huge bombshell to him, okay? I don’t know if he’d be able to handle it with all the stress with the wedding.”

Melissa says something that Claudia doesn’t hear and she shakes her head. “This is all my fault. I brought it all on myself for being a stupid,  _reckless_  little slut.”

They both gasp and stare at her in the mirror, and the words twist in her stomach.

“Oh wow, don’t you sound just like your mother!” Natalie says loudly with a huge disbelieving smile.

“I do  _not_ ,” Claudia denies.

“Claudia, come on, what happened to the little rebel girl who wasn’t afraid of anything? What happened to her?” Melissa asks, hands on her hips.

“I grew up,” she sighs, but then they both laugh.

“Grow back down again, screw them if they can’t take a joke!”

Claudia glares at them, knowing that they’d used to say that when they were younger, but right now it seemed like her two worlds were crashing together too quickly for either to survive impact. 

* * *

  

“Wait!” Stiles yells, running along the jetty as the salty wind whips through his hair, Erica and Lydia and Scott chasing behind him and telling him to slow down.

He pulls his shirt off and dives, the rush of the water blocking out the sound of his friends shouts for him.

They can’t leave, not yet, not when he doesn’t  _know_.

The water is warm and calming on his skin as he swims towards Chris’ boat, and a hand reaches down to help pull him up when he reaches it.

“You– you can’t leave,” Stiles says as he recovers from the flat out swimming he just did. “You promised you’d stay for my wedding!”

“Stiles…” John sighs. “If you mother doesn’t want us here, then we should go–”

“No, no, please stay? She’s always talking about you guys and the good old days, and how much fun it was, and I just thought it would be nice to surprise her, she works so hard and she’s just stressed about the wedding and–”

“We’re going to sail around the island,” Chris supplies. “If you really want us to stay, we can stay on the boat. I’ve got beds and everything, but we should leave your mom alone.”

Stiles sighs and accepts the towel that John hands him and starts wiping the water away from his skin and drying off his hair, but then he sees Deucalion sitting next to the old guitar that’s covered in stickers and he feels possessiveness swirl in his gut. “You took Mom’s guitar?”

Deucalion looks to it and then back to Stiles before he smiles. “Borrowed it. I bought it for her, see these initials?”

Stiles sits down next to him, looking at the neck of the old thing. There are two, one under the other.

_C.S_

_D.E_

“It cost me ten quid and my signed Sex Pistols shirt. Your mother knew quite the rebel.”

Stiles tries not to laugh, because he can’t really imagine it until he brings the pictures out. That’s when Stiles can’t stop laughing for some reason, and Chris pulls out his photos and so does John, and they all look so different. He thanks John for the shirt he passes him, covering himself when he finds out that Chris doesn’t have sun cream.

Lunch is… It’s fun.

They’re all so different, and Stiles wished he felt something that would tell him which one was his father.

Deuc plays guitar with him.

Chris teaches him how to sail, the wind catching the sails.

John is the one to ask what  _Stiles_  want to do, and he shrugs before asking if he has any paper and pens, and they end up drawing one another. When John shows him his sketch of Stiles, he can’t help but laugh, folding his own drawing and tucking it away in the shirt pocket.

“That’s not fair,” he argues. “I’m a cop, not an artist.”

Stiles laughs and still doesn’t let him see it, when he hears the echo of Derek’s voice coming from the shore.

He hears it again, the call of his name, and he turns to look and starts shoving the shirt off of his back. More time had passed than he’d realised, it had to be close to sunset by now.

“Please come tomorrow, please?” Stiles asks, shoving the shirt into John’s arms as they all promise.

The water is cooler in the afternoon sun, dripping onto his face from his hair when he reaches the shore, and Derek is watching him with wide eyes.

“Stiles, what were you doing, people have been arriving all day and no one has seen you–”

“I was just around the island, I lost track of time,” he says. The guilt sits in his stomach for lying to Derek, but it’s not like he can tell him yet. Or… “You know how I said I wanted to find my father?”

Derek frowns in confusion and sighs. “Stiles, we’ve talked about this, you don’t need to find your dad to know who your family is. We’re all right here.”

He promises himself that he’ll tell Derek when he figures out which one of them it is.

The sun kisses Derek’s skin in a way it never has with Stiles, and Stiles lets his eyes linger on the hickey over Derek’s heart. “You been walking around like that in front of your parents?”

Derek has to be biting his tongue not to smile,  _he has to be,_  Stiles tells himself.

Stiles smiles and feels a shiver go down his spine at Derek’s warm hands on his waist, the way his eyes turn piercing in the sun as he watches him with a private smile. Stiles runs his hands down Derek’s chest and brushes their noses together and leans away before they can kiss, and the resulting smirk is something that makes his knees weak.

“Remember the day we met?” Derek asks.

“You mean when I yelled at you in Greek for knocking me over on the mainland?”

Derek smiles and looks down at Stiles’ lips, shaking his head. “After that.”

“Mmm, I’m suddenly forgetting everything about that day?”

Derek’s fingers are light as they skim across his chest, leaning closer. “When I came to book a room and you ran away when I smiled at you?”

“That was not what happened,” Stiles denies, their noses brushing together before Derek leans away. “ _Hey_!”

Derek’s face turns innocent as he starts to move away, and Stiles leans back against one of the rocks before he finds himself running after Derek along the beach.

The sand is soft under his feet, the sky turning gold as the sun sinks lower on the horizon, and Stiles picks up a handful of sand and rubbing it through Derek’s hair.

“ _Stiles_!” Derek shouts as he chases after him, his laughter making Stiles run faster before arms wrap around his waist and lift him into the air.

“ _Derek_! Oh my god,  _no_ , put me down,” Stiles laughs breathlessly, feeling Derek’s hot breath on his ear before he’s put on the ground, only to fall over his own feet and land on his ass.

Derek follows him instantly, before he rubs his own sandy hands through Stiles’ damp hair and leaning in and finally pressing their lips together.

It’s needy, the swipe of their tongues and the clack of their teeth bumping together, the heat of their skin pressing together as Stiles lies back on the sand. The kiss and they kiss and they kiss, forgetting the world around them and everything on their minds but  _them_ , and it’s all Stiles has wanted, when suddenly, Derek is gone and Stiles is being lifted away.

“Oh my god–” Stiles shrieks from Jackson’s and Scott’s arms, seeing Derek fighting in Boyd’s and his Uncle Peter’s arms.

“Boyd, put me down,  _Peter_ –”

“No way, Laura told me to get you to your party even if I had to drag you there myself–”

“Jackson, Scott, I swear to god–”

“No way, Sheridan. Lydia told me the exact same thing. We’re going.” 

* * *

  

The singing and music was loud through the walls and Claudia couldn’t stop her smile as the song finished, and Natalie spoke into the microphone.

“For one night, and one night only…  _Claudia and the Cyclones_!”

They moved into place through the smoke and Claudia catches her son’s eye, his eyes wide and mouth open in a huge grin, and when she looked around the courtyard, she could see that Lydia and Scott were almost in the same state at the sight of their moms back on stage.

Claudia takes a deep breath before she starts the song, pointing to the air, and when she flicks her eyes back to Stiles, she doesn’t care about John, or Chris, or Deuc, because Stiles is the only one that matters.

She gestures to one of the staff members, and then music fills the air again and everyone is cheering. It’s going so well until she makes a sweeping motion and glances around stage, seeing the three of them standing by the stone wall.

 _Shit,_  Claudia thinks, looking back to the crowd. She tries to keep her eyes off of them, off of  _him_ , but she keeps looking over without realising.

As she turns with Melissa, Claudia moves her mouth away from the microphone. “Look, look, look, look, look,” she murmurs, still turning until they come back to their places.

She glances back and sees John lift his arms and start almost dancing, and she  _refuses_  to smile, because she’s torn between being angry and being upset.

Claudia looks back down and sees Stiles, lips bitten and eyes watery, and she lets herself smile now, because this is  _her boy_ , all grown up.

They’re on the last note and Stiles smiles and nods to himself, and the song finishes so Claudia has to tear her eyes away.

Everyone bursts into cheers and Stiles is on the stage immediately, hugging her tightly and laughing like a kid on Christmas.

“Excuse me!” Melissa says into the microphone, and Claudia feels some of the tension leave her body. “This is a private party, invitation only.”

“Thank you,” Stiles says with a kiss to her forehead.

“Now, go have fun while I get out of this ridiculous getup,” Claudia smiles and turns him around.

“Mom?”

“Yes dear?”

“I love you.”

Claudia smiles and goes back inside, seeing Natalie collapse on the bed. “Get me  _out_  of these boots.”

She grabs one foot and Melissa grabs the other, trying desperately to loosen it and get it off.

“What the hell are they doing here, the only logical thing is that they want to ruin Stiles’ wedding–”

“I thought you weren’t that keen on this wedding?” Natalie asks as they tug.

“That doesn’t mean I’m not going to support it, this is  _my son_ , and they have no right to turn up and spoil it like this, I mean. What have they  _ever_  done for him?”

“Claudia, they didn’t even know he existed, let alone is one of theirs–” Melissa says, trying to tug the shoe off harder.

“Jesus, don’t you have any lube? We should have lubed up before we got back in these boots,” Natalie complains.

Right before Claudia falls to the ground, holding a boot in her hand.

“They didn’t need to know!” She pants, handing the boot back to Natalie. “I have done a great job with Stiles  _all by myself_. I don’t need a man telling me how to raise my own son.” 

* * *

  

Stiles sneaks away from the main party, following John around the side of the building and over to one of the balcony areas and finding him staring at the dark ocean.

“Hi,” he says quietly.

“Hi,” John sighs, looking over to him. “I think I should explain to Claudia that I come in peace.”

“Maybe wait until she’s had a few drinks in her first?” Stiles suggest with a shrug.

John cracks a smile, and then he pulls a piece of paper out of his pocket. “Listen, what you drew on the boat… You’re very talented. You could pursue this, if you wanted to.”

“I have enough to do around here.” Stiles shrugs again, trying not to look at it.

“And this is what you want to do for the rest of your life? Run the villa with Claudia?”

“She just can’t do it by herself,” Stiles snaps defensively. “Perhaps this is what I want to do.”

“You know, I was the one who brought her out here in the first place,” John sighs. “I always dreamt I’d come back here.”

Stiles tries not to say ‘I know’ to the first part of the sentence, so he stares at him and asks carefully, “What kept you?”

The silence makes anxiety twist in Stiles’ stomach, and John turns fully to look at him. “What has your mother really said about me?”

His heart is in his throat before he manages to say anything.

“She never mentioned you,” he admits weakly, but then the shutters open and his mom’s voice filters out.

“Stiles… What am I doing here?”

He’s running before John has the chance to ask him another question. 

* * *

  

“Get some air in here,” Natalie begs, sighing when Melissa opens the window.

“Somebody has got it in for me,” Claudia says, staring up the ceiling from her place next as Melissa flops down on the bed. “I bet it’s my mother.”

“Wasn’t she just a ray of sunshine,” Natalie agrees from in between them both.

“I’ve got to get them out of here,” Claudia realises with a start, rolling to get up before she’s being dragged back by Natalie.

“If you go out there guns blazing, there will be questions.”

“I’ve been thinking about what to do,” Melissa says. “Tonight, we get them wasted. Tomorrow, we take them fishing.”

“I am not going  _fishing_ ,” Natalie argues, and Melissa sighs.

“Well we’ll do something that gets us alone to interrogate them, okay? Now, your son has a party we’re missing, and  _my_  son’s face said that he wanted to tease me for getting into those old clothes so… Come on.” 

* * *

 

Back in the courtyard, he finds Deucalion trying to crawl under the table, away from the hoard of people. Stiles helps him up with a hand and leads him over to a barstool.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he nods, ordering a drink and turning to smile at Stiles. “Fancy Claudia having a grown up son.”

“Do you have any children?”

“I have the dogs, Ethan and Aiden but… That’s the extent of my relationships. You know, I would have loved having a kid. I would have spoiled him rotten.” He smiles at the bartender when he gets his drink and frowns, turns to look out at the party going on and then he turns back to Stiles. “Is your father here?”

“I don’t know,” Stiles says slowly, keeping his eyes on Deucalion’s expression. “I don’t know who my father is.”

He hears his friends before they touch his arm and bring him back to the party, under all the lights and the beat of the music.

It’s easy to lose himself in the dancing with them all, but then Erica pushes him over to where Chris is dancing with a tilt of her head. Stiles steps near him and laughs at the way he’s dancing, and he’s met with a smile from Chris.

“This is fantastic! How on earth did Claudia get the money to buy this place?”

“She was left some money,” Stiles shouts to him over the music. “By the old woman she used to take of over on the mainland when I was little. Her name was Allison!”

“Like the great aunt I named my daughter after?”

“I guess!” Stiles shouts. It’s not like he knew Chris’ daughters name anyway.

“I always heard her money was left to family,” he says as he dances, before he trails off and stares at Stiles, and Stiles  _knows_  in his heart that it’s all just clicked into place for him. “How old are you?”

“I’m twenty,” Stiles yells, and he feels like someone has stepped on his stomach as the noise of distress.

“Will you excuse me for a minute?” He shouts, and he turns in a circle before shouting an apology over the music and moving away.

“Chris!” Stiles can’t let that happen though, he chases after him. “Chris,  _wait_.”

He finally comes to a halt out on start of the dirt road, but Stiles  _has_  to know. It’s the one thing in his life that doesn’t fit. “Why would your great aunt leave my mother money?”

“I don’t know,” Chris answers, looking panicked through the darkness.

“All my life, I’ve had this huge unanswered question, and I need to know–”

“What do you want from me?”

“Are you my father?” Stiles asks, his stomach feeling like it’s dragging on the ground.

“Yes,” he nods. “At least I think so.”

Stiles smiles at the hopeful twist of his heart, deciding to just go for it. “You know what happens next, right?”

“Please don’t tell me you have a twin, I cannot deal with any more surprise children for the night.”

Stiles coughs over his laugh and shakes his head. “Will you walk down the aisle with me? I know I’m not a bride, but… I’d still like to have someone there.”

Chris seems surprised by the question, but he nods and awkwardly goes in to hug Stiles.

“Our secret until tomorrow, okay?”

Chris nods.

Stiles finds himself smiling as he walks back to the party, knowing that that question is finally answered. 

* * *

 

He hears the shouts and laughter as he comes back to the party, just in time to see everyone from Derek’s party crashing this one, some of them swinging from on top of the buildings and the trees onto the courtyard, and all of them wearing masks.

Stiles sees Lydia being hugged by who could only be Jackson, and then Erica is being lifted up in Boyd’s arms as she takes his mask off.

Stiles looks over some of the crowd before he sees the wolf mask looking around, before Derek reaches up and slides it onto his head so he can try and find Stiles.

He walks to him with a smile and holds his hands out in question, and Derek grins at him before he holds out a familiar chain with a drop pendant.

“Derek–”

“I want you to have it,” he says over the music.

Stiles smiles as Derek clips his grandmother’s moonstone necklace around his neck, Derek’s hot breath on his jaw making him tilt his head back for more.

Derek kisses the skin softly, and Stiles opens his eyes to see Chris watching them and he smiles at his dad.

Stiles turns and Derek holds his hand out to dance, and he can’t think of a time when he’s ever been happier than right at this moment.

He’s laughing at the story Derek is telling him about Laura and Cora dealing with Jackson, when he sees his mom and his aunts come out of their room. His eyes go to Chris and back to his mom, and he just wishes he had a  _moment_  with Derek in peace.

“Go dance with Mom,” Stiles tells him, smiling and letting go of his hand.

Once Derek is distracting his mom, Stiles starts to head over to Chris, but a hand holds him back and he turns to see John.

“Stiles, come here,” he asks, and Stiles stands to the side with him, away from the people. “I know why I’m here.”

Stiles feels like he’s about to swallow his goddamn tongue.

“Why didn’t Claudia tell me? How, I– how long have you known I was your father?”

“ _What_?!” Stiles can’t be the one to break that excited smile and he just…

“Not long at all!” Yep. It’s swallowed. “John, listen to me, my Mom doesn’t know that I know… Can we keep it a secret until after my wedding?”

“I know it’s not customary, but if you’ll let me… I’d like to walk you down the aisle since I missed out on you growing up.”

“Are you sure?” Stiles tries, and he feels like he’s back in square one.

“Yes! I would love to be able to do this for you,” John nods. “Our secret though, like you said.”

Stiles forces himself to smile and John gets pulled back into the dancing by somebody, and Stiles’ face falls.

He can’t  _think_  through the music, the loud beat of the drums and thrum of guitar, the voices of everyone singing along–

Stiles sees his mom dancing and smiling, and it’s like he’s swallowed a brick made up of confusion and guilt and doubt and–

“Stiles? Are you okay?” Derek asks, touching his arm and Stiles can’t answer him, he just stares as Derek cups his face and tries to catch his eye.

Stiles can feel his mom’s eyes on him as he jerks away, he can’t– he can’t  _breathe,_ and he tells Derek as much, moving away from the crowd so he can  _try_ –

He sees his mom trying to come over while at the same time aggressively avoiding John, but he can’t let her know, he can’t–

“Oh my god!” Comes from the side, the British accent recognisable and getting closer and Stiles looks to Deucalion and all he can manage is the tiny shake of his head.

“I’m your father!” Deucalion says over the music and Stiles  _can’t_ –

“Deuc!” He yells, trying to shake his head but it just looks like disbelief.

“Now,  _that’s_  why you sent me the invite! You wanted your old dad to stand with you in the ceremony. I won’t let you down. I’ll be there!”

Stiles is speechless as he turns to look at his party,  _their_ party, he and  _Derek_ , and what has Stiles done?

He’s  _ruined_  everything, and he can’t breathe. There are so many faces around him but they all blur in his mind until just a handful stand out, pulsing like a heartbeat.

Aunty Natalie. Deucalion. Chris. Aunty Melissa. His mom. Erica. Scott. Lydia. John. His _mom_. Derek.  _His mom._

His head is spinning and all he hears is the panicked shout of his name before his legs give out. 

 

* * *

  Claudia opens the door to Melissa’s and Natalie’s room in the morning, running her hands through her hair as she sits back against the headboard next to a still tired Natalie.

“I have been tossing and turning all night–” 

* * *

 Stiles bursts in to Erica’s and Lydia’s room, barely able to get his thoughts straight as he sits against the headboard next to a hungover Erica.

“I have been tossing and turning all night, I’ve got three dads coming to my wedding and two of them don’t even matter and I don’t know  _which_  two because I’m a goddamn idiot–” 

* * *

“Claudia, it is under control. I’m going to go sailing with Chris, and Deucalion has convinced Natalie into taking out a paddle boat.”

Natalie groans from the bed and Claudia sighs, staring at the opposite wall. 

* * *

 “Stiles, calm down. We figured something out. We’re each going to go off, grab a man, interrogate him and then swap notes and decide. It’s practically foolproof.”

Stiles bites at one of his nails and Scott groans from where he’s passed out on the floor. 

* * *

  

Claudia’s thoughts are running a mile a minute as she’s tossing the empty bottles from the night before into a bag, trying to make sure everything is prepared for the wedding, when Stiles is walking by holding the caulk gun and muttering to himself.

“Hey, hey–” Claudia asks, catching his arm and looking over his tired face. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m fine…”

Claudia takes the caulk gun out of his hands. “Stiles.”

“What?”

“What happened with you and Derek last night?”

“What? Nothing.”

“Stiles, tell me what’s wrong,” Claudia says, lifting one of her hands to cup his face. He looks so tired.

“I… I don’t know what to do,” he says quietly, trying to cover the shake in his voice.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to do anything you do want to,” Claudia smiles gently. “If you feel like you need to call off the wedding, everyone will understand–”

“What?  _Call off the wedding_? Mom– I don’t want to call of the wedding…” He looks over her face before he obviously comes to a conclusion, judging by the angry expression that’s suddenly taken over. “No, that's what  _you_  want!”

“Stiles.  _Stiles_. I don’t want you to call off the wedding!”

“You do! God,  _of course_ you do! You never wanted me to get married anyway!”

“That doesn’t mean that I haven’t supported you every step of the way!”

Stiles bursts out in incredulous laughter, shaking his head. “God, you have  _no idea_! You never did the marriage–and–babies thing, you just did the babies thing and you know what? It’s crap!”

Claudia stares at him while he has his outburst, heart beating wildly. “Stiles, why the hell are you taking this out on me?!”

“Because I love Derek! More than anything in the world, and I want to be with him for the rest of my life!”

“Good for you!”

“And you know what, if we ever decide on kids, I don’t want them to grow up not knowing who their dad it because it is such… It’s  _bullshit_ ,” he shouts, storming off.

Claudia runs her hands through her hair and pulls it away from her face, taking deep breaths to calm herself down. Stiles was a smart kid, he’d obviously known  _something_  had to be going on, and with all the stress they were both under… Of course it had to blow up in her face sometime.

The sound of bagpipes filled the air, as did the off tune singing as Derek and his friends stumbled into the courtyard, and Claudia takes the bagpipes out of Isaac’s hands and swaps it for the bag of empty bottles.

“For god’s sake, be useful! You two… You’re supposed to be helping him get ready!”

They disappear and Claudia takes a moment to hug the bagpipes before she shoves them into the shed.

When she turns back around, John is there with a small smile on his face. “I see you kept the bagpipes.”

“Mmm, they’re supposed to ward off unwanted guests.”

“You don’t need bagpipes for that.”

Claudia pushes past him with the caulk gun, kneeling down at the crack and trying to ignore him. Then again, Stiles had to get his lack of impulse control from somewhere. “What are you doing here, John?”

“This was the dream, remember? Having a villa on the island.”

“Yeah? Well this is my reality. Hard work and a–  _shit_ – and a crippling mortgage,” Claudia sighs, shaking her hand out from the pain of slipping. “And a hotel that’s crumbling around me.”

“Look, let me, I’ll help– Let me look at it,” John tries, kneeling down next to her.

“No,” she snaps. “No, it’s fine. I can do it. I’ve been dealing with it for fifteen years.”

Claudia can feel him staring at her while she fixes the crack, or…  _Tries_  too, at least.

“Why didn’t you tell me it was Stiles getting married?”

“To be completely honest, it’s none of your damn business.”

“Why the hell is he getting married and settling down on the island? He should be going out and living his life,” John argues, like he has any say in the matter.

He doesn’t.

At all.

“He’s a bright kid.”

“I know,” Claudia hisses, but for once they can final agree on something. “But you know, he’s my son. He’s got a mind of his own.”

“He’s so young.”

“I  _know_.”

“Does he really know what he wants?”

“Listen, John. I know my kid, alright? And if you tell him he can’t do something, he’ll dig his heels in and do it. We Sheridan folk are like that.”

“But is it doing it because he wants to or because he’s afraid of you being on your own?”

“John,  _shut up_ , and leave me alone. Please. You made your choices, and I made mine, and I am not going to have some middle aged old man tell me how to live my life or tell my son how to live his. We have survived without anyone but each other.” 

* * *

 

Stiles is running.

Derek is helping thread the flowers around the jetty and Stiles runs to him, heaving for breath when he reaches him.

“Derek.”

“Stiles? What’s wrong?”

“You have to help me,” he gasps, but he can’t stand the eyes of their friends watching him and Stiles takes off again, hearing Derek call his name as he chases after him.

They’re finally alone and Stiles is about to tear apart at the seams under the shade of the tree they’re standing under.

“Stiles, what’s happened? What is it?” He asks, trying to soothe him.

“I… I did something completely  _stupid_  and crazy and I thought I would  _know_  right away and  _everything_ has gone wrong and my mom is going to kill me and I ruined everything and I’m– I’m so sorry–”

“Stiles, I don’t understand.”

“All my dads are here for the wedding and they all think they’re giving me away.”

“Your dads? Plural?”

“Yes,” Stiles nods, and the longer he talks and Derek’s expression keeps to close off, he feels like the ground if falling out from beneath him. “I found my mom’s diary. And I have three possible fathers. And I… I invited them all. I wasn’t thinking at the time and–”

“Hold on. Stiles, wait. You invited these guys and you didn’t tell me?”

“I know! I know, but I thought you would have tried to stop me.”

Derek is stone faced and he steps away from Stiles, and Stiles tries to take his hand but Derek moves it out of the way.

“Derek– Derek, please, I’m sorry, I know I messed up–”

“Is this what this whole white wedding thing is about? Finding your dad?” The hurt in his voice is too much and Stiles  _needs_  him right now.

“ _No_! Derek, no. That was about us–”

“I wanted to take your mom and a few of our friends over to the mainland, and you insisted on this giant thing… Just so you could play happy families?”

“Derek, that’s not true! It’s about knowing who I am!”

“That doesn’t come from finding your father. That comes from finding yourself,” Derek shakes his head. “And you know what else? I was trying to find myself. And I found  _you_ , and I loved you. More than anything, and I wanted what you wanted. Now I don’t know.”

Derek starts to walk off and Stiles swallows passed the lump in his throat, trying not to cry at the sight of Derek turning away. “You don’t know if you love me?”

“Of course I love you!” Derek snaps, turning to look at him. “I just wish you’d told me.”

“Stiles?” Comes the voice, and their heads both turn to look at John standing at the road to their right, looking between the two of them.

Derek rolls his eyes and Stiles watches him leave, looking at his feet. “What do you want, Stilinski?”

He frowns and steps closer. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just peachy. Look, I’m not in the mood, so I’m going to go–”

“No, no, you need to talk about this, because I’m supposed to be walking you down the aisle and how can I do that when I know you’re not going to be happy?”

Stiles scoffs and sniffs his nose, looking at his potential father and shaking his head. “I’ve heard all this from my mom, and she knows me a lot better than you do.”

“Look, I tried to do the whole white wedding and sometimes it just  _doesn’t_  work out. They might not always be a happily ever–”

“That is you! That’s not me. I love Derek more than  _anything_. Did you feel that way before you got married?”

John pauses, eyes darting away and then back. “No, no I didn’t.”

“That’s what I thought.” 

* * *

  

As soon as Claudia sees Stiles, she stops him with a gentle touch on his arm.

“Hey,” she says softly, and she can see the guilt on his face, even when he tries to smile through it. “Where’s Erica and Lydia, why aren’t they helping you get ready?”

“Will you help me?”

She smiles and he rushes to his room, and she follows him with a soft smile. “Slow down, we have time. We have time.” 

* * *

  

Stiles is staring at his reflection, his hair sticking up in every direction since he woke up, and even trying to flatten it down with a comb isn’t doing anything.

He knows his mom is watching him, and she looks so sad and happy and  _wistful_  that the guilt he’s feeling digs into him a bit more than before.

She’s pulling his suit out of the closet, all wrapped up in plastic, and Stiles can’t wait any longer for his shower, he just needs to turn himself off for twenty minutes. 

* * *

  

There’s a crash from the bathroom and the sound of Stiles swearing, and Claudia pauses.

“You okay?”

“ _Yeah_. Yeah, I just slipped. I’m fine.”

Claudia smiles and looks back down at the picture of them together when he was a little boy wrapped up in her arms. 

* * *

  

Stiles is bleeding. He didn’t even notice before, but he stepped out of the bathroom and was brushing his teeth, and his mom pointed out that his side was bleeding from where he tripped and must have cut himself on the ceramic (and broken) soap rail.

He flops down onto his bed and she digs through her pockets before she finds a Band-Aid, wiping the blood away with a clean cloth and sticking it over the tiny cut. 

* * *

 

Stiles is sitting curled up in Claudia’s lap as she cuddles him in the giant old chair she used to read him bedtime stories from, both of them just sitting quietly as they watch the ocean in the distance. Late at night, Stiles can always hear the waves, but right now they’re still and silent and blue.

“Are you disappointed in me?”

“Sweetie no, how could you even think that?”

“Look at what you’ve done! You had a band, you raised  _me_  on top of running a villa, and I’m just–”

“I didn’t have a choice with those things, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t love every minute of it. You know… When I got pregnant with you? My mother told me not to bother coming back.”

The words sink into Stiles’ chest and he tries to snuggle further into her arms, and she smiles and presses a kiss to his temple.

“I wouldn’t change any of it. For anything. I mean, look at us. Look at what we’ve got. You’re getting  _married_ , which is something I never thought I could do.”

“Mom?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you walk down the aisle with me?”

“All you had to do was ask, baby.”

Stiles feels something uncurl in his chest, and he feels freer. 

* * *

 

Claudia runs her fingers through his soft hair, smiling when Stiles closes his eyes and tilts his head back to the feeling.

“I was thinking we only use a tiny bit of gel. You don’t want to go overboard.”

Claudia sticks his hair up enough to look tasteful, rather than what he was like as a teenager, and then it’s time for him to get into his suit.

As soon as he steps out of the bathroom Claudia smiles, moving him in front of the mirror so she can fix his collar and smooth the lines of his shirt.

Stiles’ fingers are nimble as he ties the black tie, and she watches him watch himself as he takes a deep breath.

God, her baby is all grown up. 

* * *

 

Erica and Lydia fawn over the sight of Stiles in a suit, and Claudia knows Scott would be too if he wasn’t already up at the ceremony with his mom.

Stiles can’t stop smiling and Claudia watches fondly as he and his friends talk, walking along next to the entourage as they slowly climb the hill, salty wind blowing hers and the girls’ hair everywhere.

“Claudia,” John says, catching up to them from the road, and Claudia sighs.

Stiles looks between them, and Claudia nods for him to go ahead.

“Claudia…”

“What?”

“We need to talk about who’s going to be up there with him at the ceremony.”

“That would be me,” she smirks, not looking his way as she keeps walking.

“What about his father?”

“His  _father_  isn’t here.”

“Claudia… It’s what he wants, he said he wanted his father here to see him–”

“John, don’t do this now. I can _not_  hear this now.”

“Please, just talk to me if this is about us–”

“I don’t want to talk.” 

* * *

  

“Stiles, she’s here! It’s okay,” Lydia says, turning back to him and signalling for them to go ahead.

“Mom, oh my god,” Stiles says, moving her hair out of the way from where the wind had blown it.

“It’s fine, let’s go. Let’s do this,” she nods, and Stiles rolls his eyes as the ceremony starts.

Stiles is torn between staring at Derek in his suit and looking to his mom on his arm, seeing her trying to hold back her smile.

Stiles smiles when they reach the end, feeling Derek’s pinkie link with his. He looks over and Derek has a soft smile on his face, and Stiles has never been happier.

And then his mom interrupts the officiant right after they’ve introduced her as Stiles’ family.

Because why would he expect any different.

“And welcome to… Stiles’ dad.”

Derek sends him a look of confusion as everyone turns to look at her, and Stiles shakes his head. He doesn’t know what’s she’s doing either.  

“I have to tell you, he is here,” Claudia admits to him, and Stiles can see the three potentials all start to stand.

“I know, I invited him,” Stiles says to her.

“You couldn’t have, I don’t know which one it is,” Claudia says, staring at him before her hand flies to her mouth. Stiles can see them all slowly start to sink back to their seats. “Oh my god, that’s why they’re here?!”

“I’m sorry, sorry, I just… Please forgive me, Mom, oh my god, please–”

“I don’t– I don’t know…” Stiles knows that tone, and he knows that she’s struggling of what to say rather than not accepting his apology. “Can you forgive me?”

“What?  _Mom_ , I don’t care, who my dad is. Well I mean I do,” Stiles adds with Derek lets out a small scoff of laughter next to him, earning an elbow to the side. “But you’re my mom and that’s all that matters right now. You’re my mom, and I love you so much.”

She smiles and shakes her head before it turns into a nod, turning back to the officiant.

“Hold up,” comes John’s voice, and Stiles closes his eyes. “You mean to tell me that Stiles  _might_  be mine, but he could also be Chris’, or Deuc’s?”

“Yeah, that’s right. Don’t you get all self-righteous with me, John. You have no one to blame but yourself,” his mother says, “You were the one who left.”

“Yeah, if you hadn’t of dumped her in the first place–”

“Hey– I had to go home. I was engaged, and I went home to break it off. I told my fiancée I could never be happy with her and we ended it.”

“Why didn’t you call me?” Claudia splutters and Stiles feels Derek’s hand slide into his own.

When he looks to the side, Derek shakes his head gently with a smile. Stiles leans close to him without drawing attention to themselves (which is easy considering everyone is focused on his mom and potential dad), he presses a soft kiss to Derek’s jaw. “Welcome to the Sheridan family,” he whispers, and Derek squeezes his hand.

“Because I was crazy enough to think that when I came back, you would be waiting for me, but they told me you were already off with someone else. I knew I didn’t want to go back to my ex, so I focused on my career for twenty one years. And I've loved you for all these years.”

Claudia goes still, and Stiles can see her looking between him and Derek and then back to John.

Silence fills the hall, and Stiles feels like he’s going to shout when he sees Deucalion start to stand.

“Mom, do you want to just get a paternity test?” He interrupts before Deuc even has a chance to begin. “I mean… If you’re going to get with John, do it, but we should just do a paternity test.”

His mom glances over to where Deuc has risen and she nods. “Good idea.”

Everyone turns back to the officiant, and Stiles feels so bad when the guy looks like he’s about to have an aneurysm when Stiles interrupts and turns to Derek.

“Hey?”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s not get married.”

“ _Stiles_ –”

“Derek, you never wanted this. Let’s just… Let’s get off this damn island and see the world.”

Derek stares at him for a moment before he grins, and Stiles doesn’t bother not trying to stare.

“I love you,” Derek says, leaning in to kiss him. 

* * *

 

His mom gets married instead, and neither of them can stop smiling.

He and his mom both change their last names to Stilinski.

It feels  _right._  

* * *

 The test results come back.

Apparently that Stilinski gene is was made Stiles twice as stubborn as his mom.

 


End file.
